In recent weeks I've scoured my garage for bits of wax to send to my grand-niece for candle-making. In due course, I ran across some older photos of some of the fine wax art that appeared at our local bee club (Lincoln Land Beekeepers Assoc), which our talented members had crafted. This got me to thinking about my top five honey bee products. So here are the top five in descending order, along with the one that surprised me the most in preparation for this post.I'm curious to know what your favorites will be and look forward to your comments.

#5. Jar Honey. When extracting honey for my family, friends or customers, I think about how much people enjoy this fine food. And I hope they will appreciate all that our little insect friends do to produce such a wonderful treat to our taste buds. I consume a lot of honey, and give away a lot as well. So I rated this one as number 5, since the other items below are unique or new or surprising. Then again, this could easily be number 1!

#4. Bees Wax. As mentioned above, I am fascinated by the lovely art and methods of my talented friends who can patiently torture such lovely images. From wax candles to wax replicas of roses and bee keeping equipment, my friends Fred and Carolyn have some truly remarkable displays. I can barely pour clean wax into a jar with a taper daubed in it without making a mess. Just look at these beautiful items!

#3. Honey Pearls.Most surprising, this honey product is a new take on crystallized honey. In short, it's more like dehydrated, crystallized honey. Here's the product description from the manufacturer. "Honey Pearls® are 100% natural and containing no artificial flavors or additives. Honey Pearls® add the delicate sweetness of honey to your cup with the convenience of sugar. At only 12 calories per teaspoon serving, our crystallized honey can adorn your coffee or tea cup every day!" I was introduced to these little packets at a conference I recently attended in Texas. Pleasantly surprising, Honey Pearls were a welcome relief from white sugar and aspartame. Using a few packets, I could taste the honey in these little grains of sweetness, albeit faintly.I'm going to buy a larger supply and see if I like it more regularly. I'm curious if there's a method to make this type of product at home.These are closely related to #2, below, which can be made at home....

#2. Honey Caviar. Ok, here's the link for you from Cookistry to make these. I doubt you can come up with a way to sell these delightful honey products, but the process for making these looks simple and I aim to give it a try. I'll let you know how it turned out in my next blog.

#1. Comb Honey. No surprise here, but I enjoy eating honey in the comb. Honey in the comb is a thing of art all on its own. As you can see here, this artist combined her talents with that of her bees!Comb honey to me is the highest product line we can offer to our friends and customers. An offering of purity and sweetness and beauty that cannot be improved upon (even with Abe's portrait). As much as I like and consume and share "jar" honey, I get out the comb honey for special occasions, like when my daughter Cordelia makes biscuits from scratch. These deserve something special, and I have just the thing to top off those biscuits.